The good news is that the Internet is a whole other world for anyone who wants to explore it. Vicariously you can do everything from play games to travel to experience musical adventures and much more. Used correctly, the Internet can be a great teaching tool and help improve grades and provide tremendous learning opportunities.
The bad news is the Internet is fraught with online predators who make easy victims of anybody who does Internet browsing. In this article we will discuss Internet safety for kids, what parents can do to improve their online safety and introduce some products that can help.
If you are not familiar with the terms cyber bullying, blogging, social networking, email and text messaging among others, then the very first step is for you to become aware of what those terms are and what’s associated with them. If you are unaware of those terms and don’t know what potential problems are associated with them, then there’s no way that you can steer your children away from the dangers on the Internet.
Parents can do that by going to their local library, school or community center to learn free of charge what the Internet is all about. That has to be your first step.
Then there has to be a way for you to monitor what your children are doing online and who they are talking to online. There are several online safety tools that will allow you to do that.
The first one is called Eagle Eye. It allows you to know everything that occurs on the computer even when you’re away. You simply insert the USB stick into the computer, install the software then remove the USB and leave.
It enables you to see what kind of programs were used, log all the websites that were visited, capture screenshots, do key logging and covertly send logs via email so you can see what’s going on instantly.
Then there’s the famous Spector PC Pro, which is the number one rated spy surveillance software by PC Magazine. It allows you to see every website accessed, read every email sent or received, record every keystroke made on the computer including passwords, allows you to monitor every chat room message sent or received, stop access to any website, block chat activity or block Internet access altogether And it shows every single file downloaded or uploaded and analyzes content you specify to see if you should be notified right away. It does not work with Mac products.
Don’t get caught up in semantics-you’re the adult. It is your responsibility to keep your child out of trouble in so much as it is possible. Issues of privacy do not pertain when it comes to internet safety for kids.